Meet Canada's leading human resource and management experts! IPM, in conjunction with the Association of Professional Recruiters of Canada, the Canadian Management Professionals Association and the Canadian Association of Assessment Specialists, holds regular chapter events, workshops and conferences featuring recognized national industry expert speakers.

Today’s Critical Issues in Employment Law: Seeing the Forest through the Trees

This session will provide an overview of recent developments in three major areas that impact your business.

* Duty to Accommodate: Obtain the critical information required to keep up with employers’ ever-changing obligations and navigate these sometimes choppy waters with confidence.

* Medical Marijuana: Marijuana is, at least for the time being, an illegal drug. Issues in the workplace related to employees legally prescribed marijuana are on a sharp increase. What are your obligations, rights and proactive tools to deal with this issue?

* Accommodating Mental Stress: We would all agree that everyone suffers “stress” at some point in their working lives. When is stress medically recognized “mental stress” that requires accommodation? What do you need to know to deal effectively with this issue in your workplace? Learn how to minimize the risk of a “stress leave” interfering with legitimate employer actions and how to proactively handle such claims when they arise.

Explore current trends in recruitment and how they are shaping the future of staffing and recruitment in Canada.

Throughout history, the nature of work periodically experiences transformational changes from assembly line workers in the early 20th century to the rise of the knowledge workers around 1990 and now to the gig economy and the human cloud. Understand how the nature of supply and demand of labour is changing in today’s digital economy.

The global staffing industry continues to grow however the pace of change to how the staffing industry is structured is accelerating. Examine the thinking behind some of the largest strategic moves in the staffing industry over the past year.

The recruiting industry is an agency business model however the digital age is quickly changing how candidates and employers connect.

Discuss how industries go from severe labour shortages to high unemployment. Review what you should be telling your children they should learn to be marketable in the economy of the future. Gain valuable insights on how technology is changing models of employment.

Look at the big picture of macro-economic trends affecting employment and link them to the question of what this all means and how it affects you.

Moving into 2017, the global economy remains tentative. The US continues to pick up steam, but troubles are brewing both in Europe and Asia. Canada’s economy is also struggling to gain traction and oil prices continue to bounce around at levels unsupportive of new investment in Alberta. All of this adds up to a still challenged economy.

As the province struggles through another year of recession, the question on many people’s minds is how long will this last? Have we seen the worst of it, and if so when can we expect recovery?

In this high energy presentation, human dynamics innovator George Raine will show you the proven Turnaround Interview® technique for coaching employees to break bad workplace habits without using or threatening discipline. This technique corrects minor but persistent problems like lateness, excessive breaks, missing deadlines, negative comments, improper use of work time and similar behaviours.

Already proven in manufacturing, high-tech, government, health care and educational settings, this progressive approach to dealing with sticky problems is producing dramatic results in about 90% of cases.

Learn how and why people naturally defend bad workplace habits and why they resist change. Discover how to use that knowledge to overcome the resistance and how to make the change stick. It may not be that easy at first. Review the proven techniques for controlling the flow of the conversation and for phrasing your questions to get the best chance of success. Rooted in a sound understanding of human nature, this new, high-impact approach to employee coaching will get you to rethink your instinctive approaches to these tough conversations with employees.

Managing people today in a truly diverse and changing world has its challenges. The legal landscape for employers continues to evolve. This presentation will address tips and recent developments in the following areas:

Demystifying “Constructive Dismissal”

In our current economy change is a constant presence. Changes that affect your employees raise the risk of constructive dismissal. What is constructive dismissal? What are the consequences and how can you avoid hidden traps and risk in this area when implementing changes within your organization?

Human Rights and the Duty to Accommodate: Employers have rights too!

Most managers and HR professionals understand that the area of Human Rights and the “Duty to Accommodate” is a virtual minefield of restrictions and risk for employers. However, what we often lose sight of are the practical proactive tools and employer rights that we do have in this area. Understand your employer rights and the risk management tools available to you in this ever changing arena.

Based on best practices,” The Work of Leaders” connects to real-world demands, generating powerful conversations that provide a clear path for action.

Obtain valuable insights into leadership best practices based on work done by Murray Janewski in partnership with John Wiley and Sons. Leadership will be defined as a one-to-many relationship as opposed to the one-to-one relationship that is unique to the field of management. Leadership focuses on tangible steps directed at leading a team toward desired outcomes. Discuss the findings of six years of research and input from over 300 people at over 150 organizations.

Using the framework of Vision, Alignment and Execution, The Work of Leaders encourages leaders to understand their own leadership behaviours and how those behaviours will impact their effectiveness in leading others.

While thought provoking, The Work of Leaders stimulates fresh conversations and perspectives regardless of the leader’s knowledge or experience. It’s an opportunity for leaders at all levels of learning to reflect on how they approach each step of their work. In addition, it encourages reflection and discussion about the team and the organization.

Participants will come away with both the insight and the actions to be able to grow as a leader and to grow their teams.

Communication is one of the most important elements of individual, team and business success, yet is one of the most common challenges we all face. This presentation provides you with practical and tactical skills and tools that you can implement immediately for positive results, less drama and long term success… the courageous dialogue.

In this interactive session, gain insights how to obtain better results in the difficult conversation, how to reduce your own anxiety and help to generate a positive and productive outcome for all parties involved.

Whether the situation involves providing feedback about sensitive issues, correcting performance or conveying bad news, this presentation will help you communicate for success and results up, down and across the organization.

Over the past decade, extensive investigation has been done in the study of changing your thoughts to change your life. Eddie Lemoine has researched this concept extensively and shares his insights with thousands of participants from every industry and walk of life.

Eddie’s research-based approach provides participants with immediate techniques they can use in their business and personal lives. This presentation is filled with valuable ideas interwoven with inspiring anecdotes and accented with humour and emotion.

In this high energy session, discuss the three key elements to change your future outcomes. Learn techniques to attract success, abundance, good health and successful relationships. The techniques presented will help implement lasting change.

Participants will discover how to improve business and personal relationships, create more of what they would like to have and less of what they would not, employ the power of emotions, break through feats to achieve higher levels of success, foresee pitfalls along the way and avoid them, achieving the outcome they desire.

This session will provide an overview of developments in three major areas that impact your business.

“Family Ties that Bind”:

Several years ago Human Rights Commissions across the country commenced permitting human rights complaints based on the needs of an employee’s family members. This new and evolving ground has recently become the subject of much discussion, confusion, panic and case law. Discuss the employer’s duty to accommodate in this area, where the line is drawn and practical lessons for employers arising from recent cases.

“Foreign Workers – to be or not to be”:

Recent announced changes to the foreign worker rules and programs have caused legitimate concern for many employers given the ever increasing labour shortage. What do the changes mean for your workplace and foreign worker program?

“Ounce of Prevention worth a pound of Cure”:

Over the years, we have presented on various tremendously effective and important proactive tools that every employer should be aware of. Review the top tools and techniques for minimizing costly legal disputes with employees including Effective Hire letters and Discipline and Performance management.

Recent court, arbitration and tribunal awards are changing the landscape of how we conduct internal investigations. Rules of fair play and natural justice are more stringent, defamation actions are more common and awards related to faulty or non-existent investigations are increasing substantially. Legislation related to workplace violence, bullying and psychological harassment have placed increased responsibility on employers on how they follow up on reports and the extended use of contractors raises questions about what the company does or does not have to investigate. Complex requirements for accommodation related to addiction and family status issues are also increasing the number of complaints within corporations or to human rights tribunals.

This session will explore these recent changes and the effect that they are having on how companies resource investigative capabilities. Discuss the options in using in house and external investigators and opportunities to ensure that investigations are properly staffed. Review the 10 qualities of good investigations and the steps to ensure that organizations reach those requirements. We will also address an approach to ensure that a proper plan is in place when the need to investigate arrives.

Obtain the tools to ensure that all investigations into discrimination, harassment, theft, fraud, statutory violations or other just cause issues are completed in a manner that will provide an outcome and report that will be accepted by courts, arbitration boards and tribunals.

Lessons Learned about Leadership and Management: A Mayor’s Perspective

At times, long term visionary leadership and obtaining short term results are in conflict.

After 30 years as a Hockey Coach including the Alberta Junior Hockey League, 7 years as Mayor of the City of St. Albert and 35 years in the Forest Products Industry, Mayor Nolan Crouse realizes that leadership and management have some similarities but vast differences.

His management style is a blend of leadership toward the long term and management of the short term. He devoted much attention to detail in day to day operational management and the coaching of hockey. However, in order to adequately move forward on big picture matters as Mayor of the City of St. Albert, Mayor Crouse put into practice the important skill of visionary leadership. This same skill helped him as a corporate executive with Procter and Gamble, West Fraser Timber, Alberta Energy Ltd. and Sunchild Forest Products.

Gain valuable insights on what skills are required and obtain tips to help you become better at balancing long term visionary leadership while still obtaining short term results.

Stress and burnout in the North American workplace are estimated to cost organizations hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Depression is projected to be the number 2 cause of disability-adjusted life years by the World Health Organization by 2020. With so much focus on the bottom line, the question now becomes, “Does happiness matter?”

The scientific research emphatically and unequivocally states “YES!” This interactive and engaging presentation will discuss the latest findings from the leadership and organizational sciences regarding the many advantages of happiness for our careers, our performance, our health and our bottom line. Using ‘hard data,’ it will make a strong business case that happiness is not just “nice to have”- it is a core component of motivating peak performance. It will also provide attendees with evidence-based strategies that they can bring back to their workplaces to leverage the power of feeling good.

This session will also highlight tangible and practical steps that individuals, teams and organizations can use to create a productive, healthy and vibrant workplace.

This session will provide an overview of critical HR developments that impact your business. Back by popular demand, Colin Fetter will work through recent developments in these key areas:

• Over the Legal Limit- Alcohol and Drug Abuse in the Workplace

This is a rapidly evolving area with many recent important cases. What is your duty to accommodate? What are the key strategies to dealing effectively with this issue and protecting your employees and business while ensuring compliance with Human Rights? What are the key proactive steps to minimize this issue from arising and maximize your options as an employer in dealing with employee addicts effectively? Should you have a testing program? What tests are allowed and in what circumstances?

A departing employee who takes your training, corporate knowledge, customers and even your staff with them can be an employer’s worst nightmare. Review several recent noteworthy cases in the area of non-compete clauses, post-employment obligations and restrictions. What are the employee’s automatic post-employment obligations? What contractual non-compete or non-solicit restrictions can be contractually imposed?

Learn the key options and tools for employers to protect their business and their workforce from unfair solicitation or competition from departing employees. Most importantly, learn which approach is best for your business and how much is too much. The Courts have been very clear in recent years that if your non-compete or non-solicitation language is too restrictive, the Court will throw out all contractual restrictions. The result is that these contractual restrictions may be worthless and unenforceable if not very carefully tailored to your business and industry.

Most people actually use 60% or less of available work time. When over 38,000 people in 200 countries were queried about individual productivity, a Microsoft survey showed that even though they were physically at work five days a week, they were only productively using three days. Attlasian also reports that 60% or less of work time is actual productive time.

In this session, we will address the link between time management and productivity through the following discussion points:

• How are you allocating your time? How and why should you improve it?
• Attitudes are the key to time management and being productive. Discuss the main attributes of a “Championship Attitude”. Breaking away from the traditional thought processes creates unique ideas. This activity is fostered through a simple discipline tool.
• Process is important when applying different time management techniques. Discover unique ways to utilize your time that are targeted and efficient. By using new techniques, you will manage and produce at a different level.

Participants will acquire specific tools to assist them in managing their time in a new and meaningful way. A different look at motivation will improve personal and professional growth through basic measuring criteria. The implementation of a weekly scheduling tool will boost productivity levels not only in the workplace, but in all aspects of your life.

More and more, the discipline of innovation is emerging as a new strategic priority across the public and private sectors. Why? Because innovation can create efficiencies, lower costs and increase profitability. Often enough, the challenge is not in coming up with ideas- it is about the ability of leaders to engage their workforce in a process that transforms how everyone approaches innovation.

An unstructured process such as asking people to sit in a boardroom, “think outside the box,” and wait for inspiration to happen is simply not conducive to innovative thinking. Research shows an “average” group using a structured process will produce 500% more ideas than a so-called “creative” group that uses traditional brainstorming methods.

In this interactive high-energy session, participants will be inspired to foster an innovative work environment of highly engaged employees. Learn about the principles that make innovation work for leaders, how using a structured approach can transform how you solve problems at work and obtain practical thinking tools to stimulate innovative thinking in your organization.

It is possible to create a culture brimming with breakthrough ideas and innovations! This session will certainly transform the “box” from which you currently view innovation.

Engaged employees are more productive yet statistics show they only make up 25-30% of the workforce. The remaining disengaged employees are costing you money by being half as productive as engaged employees. They also abuse time-off, sick leave, benefits and produce a negative work environment for others. Engaged employees will recommend your organization as a place to work and a place to do business, give higher levels of customer service and work better with their fellow employees.

In this upbeat session, you’ll obtain a proven process to attract, retain and engage your workforce. Discover new ways to attract and retain a winning team, understand the impact of aging demographics and five generations in the workforce and manage and communicate with multiple generations. You’ll learn to recognize your employees’ strengths as a team and work collectively to produce stronger output, understand age, gender and cultural diversity and their influence in the workplace and interpret future trends and their impact on the organization.

Gain valuable insights on how to implement the three steps in closing the engagement gap and truly become an employer of choice.

Managing people today in a truly diverse and changing world has its challenges. The legal landscape for employers continues to evolve. This presentation will address tips and recent developments in the following areas:

• What is “Just Cause” Anyways?

Why can you never terminate for just cause? We will provide clear practical guidelines for establishing the seemingly impossible standard for a just cause termination and assist you in identifying and implementing alternate strategies and practical solutions for dismissal.

Harassment and workplace violence complaints can be an employer’s worst nightmare. Is your organization prepared? Do you have a harassment and workplace violence policy? Review some key proactive practical strategies that should be implemented by every employer to prevent and responsibly respond to complaints of harassment or violence in the workplace.

• Privacy Update

New developments on privacy law as it relates to an employer’s right to view employee personal information and activity on work devices.

Leadership is one of the most frequently discussed topics in the world of business and receives considerable coverage in the popular and academic press. What are the most effective leadership attributes for both individuals and organizations?

The importance of this question is further accented by the groundbreaking work of the Gallup organization. Their surveys and studies have consistently shown that the number one reason people leave organizations is “poor leadership.” This trend, combined with the recent failures of our institutions and even countries, has created a fervent call for stronger leadership.

Review an evidence-based argument highlighting the critical importance of the “softer” side of leadership. Discover how humility, empathy, happiness and self-awareness/authenticity are key differentiators of peak performance organizations. Although this list may seem counterintuitive to widespread beliefs regarding desirable leadership attributes, a sizeable evidence base has grown showcasing its effectiveness. By drawing on classic and cutting edge research, this session will highlight how moral leadership is not only doing the right thing, but it is the right thing to do for the health of our organizations.

Resilience is more than simply bouncing back after change, challenge crisis and adversity. It’s a process of choosing a new course, setting the sails and being the captain in your life (and business).

Now more than ever, the skill and character of resilience is an essential quality for workplaces, teams and business success. Many professionals are experiencing more to do, in less time and with fewer resources and with more changes…. And the expectation of better results! The current economic situation has created challenges and change, and in some cases, uncertainty and even immobility.

Resilience is a critical skill for individuals and businesses to “Bounce Forward” during change. This interactive workshop provides tips, strategies and tools to:

• Explore the seven essentials to the resilient business and team
• Engage in several resilience building, stress management and lifestyle management activities
• Complete a Resilience Action Plan
• Learn how to handle procrastination, workplace fatigue, juggling priorities, managing time and energy
• Explore strategies to ignite resilience both at work and in your personal lives.

This session will challenge participants to reach beyond their current grasp and to excel beyond their expectations.

Organizations, teams and people regularly encounter performance gaps, missed expectations and bad or unsafe behaviour. Many organizations suffer from a cultural of collusion. Accountability conversations are avoided because they are thought to be uncomfortable or confrontational. Sometimes people don’t hold others accountable because they don’t want to be held accountable themselves. Fail to have that accountability conversation and the negative impact is predictable. Likewise, an accountability conversation held poorly also will have a predictably negative result.

In the excellent organization, everyone holds each other accountable and all team members apply gentle and consistent pressure for all to execute superbly.

This dynamic presentation will provide you with the skills and strategies to:

• Step up to poor performance, pick the right problem to work on and address underlying motivation/ability issues.
• Hold anyone accountable—no matter the other person’s power, position or temperament—and get positive results.
• Motivate without using power by clearly and concisely explaining natural consequences.
• Enable without taking over by creatively helping others avoid excuses and work-arounds, stay on track and resolve performance barriers.

Many organizations thrust people into leadership roles needing more effective tools and skills to address performance issues. When leaders too frequently use power to ‘motivate’, it is like the old adage that to a hammer, every problem appears to be a nail. This session will provide managers the skills to enhance accountability, improve performance, and ensure safety and superb execution.

Generational Diversity: Legal Aspects in the Changing Face of the Workplace

Is your organization’s human resources management practice “age-friendly”? For the first time, the demographics of the Canadian workplace now include four generations of employees, with each having different approaches to work and expectations in the workplace. Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, the Millennials- what is an employer to do?

In this lively and interactive session, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the issues facing employers and practical tips on how to successfully manage a multigenerational workforce including:

Accommodating an aging workforce and employees with personal health problems and disabilities
Accommodating employees with increased family care responsibilities
Mandatory retirement and the latest updates on age discrimination case law
Legal options and approaches to ensuring smooth succession planning

Profit and loss, supply and demand – these are concepts that come naturally to today’s corporate leader. What makes your people tick? That’s a trickier business.

In a perfect world, you’d lead a positive, productive team that never argued or disagreed, kept secrets or advanced personal agendas. These things create confusion, distraction, productivity loss and hurt feelings. They prevent your team from reaching its full potential.

But these things inevitably happen, and even the most patient among us can’t help but wonder why do they do that?

This session will equip you with the tools to tackle head-on your biggest people challenges. You’ll understand that differences in behavioural styles can be a powerful tool, not a barrier to productivity. You’ll learn to motivate, resolve conflicts and find the strength that exists when you understand and celebrate the differences.

Specifically, you’ll learn how these tools can help you match behavioural styles to the right job. If you’re involved in recruiting, managing or training, you will definitely benefit from this presentation.

Joanne Beaton has established a legacy of building winning teams. With 25 years of leadership experience in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors, she has engaged teams of 5 to 1,500 and received international recognition for transforming cultures and achieving business results.

In this interactive session, participants will discover real life examples and practical insights to help you Lead with Intent:
• Learn how to be you – Authentic Leadership
• Crystallize your intent – Be Present
• Close the loop – Strategy and Empathy at all levels
• Appreciation vs. Recognition – What’s the difference
• The Five A’s of Engagement - Their A-mazing results

Get inspired to become an engaging leader that makes a positive impact in the lives of others and in the workplace.

The link between fraud and bullying may not be obvious, but it’s there! When fraud occurs over a long period of time, it’s almost inconceivable that someone in the organization didn’t know or have suspicions. Why didn’t that person come forward?

We will look at a number of real life fraud cases where there has been an element of bullying that either precipitated the fraud or allowed the fraud to go undetected. Learn how to develop and implement proper policies and procedures in dealing with bullying and fraud.

Fraud Investigation – Best Practices

We know that fraud occurs in the workplace. One component of a comprehensive fraud program is the investigation. Review a practical approach and best practices in conducting fraud investigations. The principles can be applied to other internal investigations including theft, harassment, conflict of interest, breach of IT policies or allegations of workplace violence.

Each fraud is different. Objectives, planning and approach to a fraud investigation can also vary significantly. Learn how to implement a basic framework for a fraud investigation before there is even a hint of fraud.

Emotional reactions to fraud, unsupported or unreasonable assumptions, lack of objectivity, weak investigative mindsets and failure to understand what lies beneath the numbers are a recipe for faulty conclusions and professional embarrassment. We’ll discuss how each of these slippery slopes can be easily avoided.

This presentation will provide all managers the necessary information in order to review or develop your present strategy, plans and procedures as well as understand potential problem areas in order to avoid needless litigation in the courts.

Succinctly stated, employment policies assist employers in reducing exposure to risk in human resource management. These policies form a foundation for workplace management to create systems that are consistent, understandable, accessible and easy to administer. While employment policies ensure statutory compliance, they also set out guidelines and information regarding your minimum requirements and “best practices” in the workplace.

There are a number of essential workplace policies that are often overlooked, neglected or forgotten. In many cases, the presence of and compliance with a clear comprehensive policy can be your best defence against the risk of dispute, acrimony and litigation. On the other hand, the absence of such policies will be your worst enemy. This seminar will discuss several essential policies, why you need them and what they can do for your workplace including:

Workplace Violence and Working Alone: Hazard assessment and a policy covering these areas has been a statutory requirement in Alberta for some time now.

Privacy / Information: What are your policy obligations with respect to the collection, storage and use of personnel information?

Drugs and Alcohol: Unfortunately these issues do or will affect most workplaces at some time. A clear comprehensive policy covers everything from prescription medication to the duty to accommodate, to testing and potential termination.

Computer, Internet, Email, Blackberry Use: Can you monitor employee emails and internet use? Are your employees texting and emailing while driving, and if so, are you potentially liable? A thorough policy on these issues is your best proactive tool to control risk in this area.

You keep your kids from spending too much time on the computer. You monitor whom they accept as friends on Facebook. Blogging sounds like something you would do in Ireland. You are vaguely familiar with Twitter but try to look savvy when someone mentions it. But now it’s a business issue?

For many employers, social media is primarily viewed as a problem – a reason to have policies about their use in the workplace. But businesses are rapidly realizing that social media is becoming a distinctive competency for marketing and branding. Over the past five years, an increasing number of people are using social media in both their personal and professional lives. While it may have started as a “playtime” trend, it is now a serious market brand and business influence. Social media is being used to increase and drive brand and business awareness, drive sales, get input into product development and build or strengthen brand loyalty.

These concepts are also being extended into the HR realm. Many HR practitioners are beginning to draft their social media policies, and are generally concerned with controlling risk and liability associated with social media use. However, social media can be a powerful recruitment branding tool. Simply focusing on issues like use of social media during work and what constitutes inappropriate disclosure of business issues may limit your business from harnessing a powerful business tool.

So, bring your Smartphones, laptops, and your desire to learn as we explore the basics of popular social media, the role of social media in marketing, considerations creating sustained social marketing ROI and the HR implications of social media.